THE same outcome followed the same result at the same venue.

Yesterday’s defeat at Oldham was City’s sixth on the bounce – five of them in the league.

And just like in his last stint in the Valley Parade hot-seat, Stuart McCall has paid the price straight after a Boundary Park loss with the sack.

Oldham, the graveyard of Bantam managers that also claimed Gary Bowyer last season, had struck again.

They might as well install a trap door by the away dug-out for City’s visits.

But that’s where the similarities with McCall’s last exit end.

In February 2018, his firing – even on the back of a wobbly run – was seen as the ultimate power play by Edin Rahic.

The former chairman, jealous of McCall’s enduring popularity with the fans, saw his chance and seized it.

It was a petty and vindictive call that would have lasting consequences.

McCall’s departure today is nothing like that.

Few can argue – least of all a man who so proudly represented the claret and amber as a player – that the axe has fallen.

Most were amazed when the club announced last month that McCall’s contract was being extended by a further year.

The premise was to introduce some stability that has been sadly lacking at City since he was last shown the door.

But ultimately no deal was going to protect him from defeat after defeat.

“I could have had a six-year contract but it’s about results,” he said in an empty stand at Oldham last night, “and at the minute we’re not getting them.”

McCall knows that was down to him. There was no interference from above this time.

Far from it. If anything, the club had pretty much given him free rein to rebuild the playing squad as he saw fit.

Like every supporter, they wanted a true club legend to lead the fight back. It has not happened.

The pandemic blindsided the football world; nobody could have predicted last season grinding to a sudden halt as it did.

But the unexpected months of nothingness gave McCall time to restructure as lower-league clubs came to terms with the new salary cap.

The fact that he left approximately a fifth of the £1.5 million limit unspent after the transfer window was a huge factor in his demise.

Injuries to key personnel have hit hard, robbing McCall of the likes of Lee Novak – who ironically returned from his 11-game absence yesterday – and Billy Clarke. Little has been seen of the much-heralded Gareth Evans since he came back.

Most tellingly, their absences exposed the holes in the squad.

Holes that were not filled in the long build-up to what was always going to be a congested campaign.

And the finger has to be pointed, however reluctantly, at the manager - who also remained dismissive of dipping into the free-agent market for short-term help.

That’s not letting off the players, either. There are several in that dressing room who need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

To a man, they have spoken about how great McCall and Kenny Black have been to work with. Expect the same platitudes to be trotted out in the coming days and apologies for how they have “let the manager down”.

Damn right they have. But words are empty without actions and we’ve seen few of them.

Three wins in 16 games – two of them against the only teams currently beneath City.

The fourth lowest goals tally; one clean sheet since the opening game of the season.

A catalogue of misery watched remotely by an increasingly-agitated fanbase, deeply worried about what state they will find the club in when crowds are finally allowed to return.

That could happen next Saturday for Cambridge’s visit – when those lucky enough to get in will demand immediate payback for the sacking of a club hero. There will be no hiding place.

For McCall, this will probably be the end of the managerial road.

This was the job where he craved success more than anywhere, matching his on-field exploits by steering City back up the leagues.

The agony of the 2017 play-off final suggested there was one more opportunity at “unfinished business”.

Sadly, it has gone the other way and made today’s parting of the waves inevitable.

When the dust settles, Stuart McCall’s status in Bantams folklore will remain undiminished and rightly so.

But it will no doubt hurt him like hell that the manner of his final farewell was self-inflicted.